Tom Morello Championing Iron Maiden at Rock Hall Meetings
Tom Morello has been a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee since 2014. During that time, he has stood up for hard rock and heavy metal acts who have been long overdue for induction. His next mission? Getting Iron Maiden into the Rock Hall.
The guitarist said on the Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz podcast that getting Madien recognized by the Rock Hall has “been on the top of my list for a while.”
Morello added, “I feel very, very fortunate that they let me into that — I’m not sure how fortunate they feel — but I feel very fortunate that they let me into that room to make my case for the Randy Rhoadses and the Kisses and the Stevie Ray Vaughans, Rush, Judas Priest and MC5 — but Maiden’s next.”
Iron Maiden, of course, was nominated for the Rock Hall’s 2023 class. It was the metal band’s second nomination after being nominated for the first time in 2021. When the 2023 Rock Hall class was announced, there was plenty of backlash about Maiden being snubbed again. It was something Rock Hall CEO Greg Harris talked about in an interview following the class announcement.
Harris said, “We love that people care. That they care if they’re in or out, and that their fans care. The truth is anybody that’s nominated, the odds are good that they’ll eventually gonna get in. In fact, I think it may be as high as 90 percent eventually go in.”
He added, “Rage [Against the Machine], this was their sixth time, I believe, fifth time on the ballot, or sixth time. And so sometimes it takes a while. But let’s see where it lands. Right now, let’s celebrate this year’s class, and we can start to debate about next year’s class once the spotlight is off of this year’s class.”
Bruce Dickinson on Why He Doesn’t Want to Be in the Rock Hall
Considering Maiden has been a notorious snub, it’s understandable that members of the band are rather salty about the Rock Hall.
For example, frontman Bruce Dickinson says he doesn’t want to be in the Rock Hall. In June 2023, he told The Telegraph, “I don’t want to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Because we’re not dead yet! Some people feel almost actively threatened by metal. Not by the nature of the music. But by the fact that it doesn’t conform to their worldview of what pop music should be, which is: pop music is disposable, darling. Well, we don’t make disposable pop music.”
